Rangers' Jon Daniels had 'good conversation' with Nolan Ryan over the weekend, says there's 'no issue' between the two

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Texas president Nolan Ryan, left, and general manager Jon Daniels shake hands before the Texas Rangers vs. Chicago White Sox major league baseball game at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on Saturday, April 7, 2012.

Texas Rangers GM Jon Daniels joined RAGE on KRLD-FM this week to talk about his promotion and relationship with CEO Nolan Ryan. Here are some highlights:

On if reports that he’s
gained power and Nolan Ryan has lost power are wrong:

I don’t really look at it that way. And the other thing is
that I haven’t really been listening to any of this radio – no offense, guys –
so I don’t really know everything that’s been speculated and said... There was that first column that came out late Friday
night, so Saturday morning I wanted to address the elephant in the room. So I went
in and talked with Nolan and say, ‘Hey, I just want to address this. I don’t
want it to linger between the two of us.’ And we talked through it and Nolan
indicated that he had no issue with myself or anything else. I’ve got to take
it at face value and move forward. We’ve got a big job here to get the team
ready.

On what has and hasn’t
changed in his responsibilities:

I think the biggest thing is that it’s a recognition of the
work that not myself, not Nolan, but the whole organization and the baseball
group have done. And again, I think it sets us up to maintain that group over a
period of time. But as far as reporting structure or how things are going to be
handled, I don’t see anything changing dramatically.

On his conversation
with Ryan:

It was a good conversation. It was part about the current
setup and situation – and it wasn’t the first time we’d talked about it, but it
was the first time after the announcement. And we didn’t see each other today,
but the previous few days we met and kind of talked through all the things we’re
faced with as far as baseball decisions. I don’t really feel comfortable
speaking for him, but at some point I’m sure he’ll address it when he’s
comfortable doing so.

On if he feels there’s
tension between him and Ryan:

I don’t personally. I went in to address that with him on
Saturday morning. There was no tension, there was no issue. Nolan’s a
straightforward guy and I take him at his word.

On if it’s business
as usual in the front office:

That’s how I feel. I think with ownership recognizing the
good things that have gone on here and the effort to keep everybody in place, I
think it was further spelling out some things as far as how things will work.
But again, I still report to Nolan and he still reports to ownership.

No doubt. I feel like we’ve got a good decision-making
group. Not just me and Nolan, but dozens of people all around us in every area
of the company and I want to keep that together, no doubt.

On if he thinks Ryan
will be with the team come season’s end:

I do. I think it would be irresponsible for me to speculate
otherwise. He hasn’t indicated anything else to me.